A senior executive from Google has spoken of the major pitfalls associated with developing apps for the Chinese market. In an exclusive interview with Mobile World Live, Yijiang Zhao, Head of Mobile – Online Partnerships Group, Google, describes what he calls “the failure of business models in China,” noting that around 60 percent of Apple iOS devices in the country are ‘jailbroken’ (compared to just 10 percent globally).

And Zhao adds that these issues are not just restricted to Apple’s operating system, claiming that app piracy is “even more obvious” on the Android platform. 

Furthermore, both Android and iOS suffer from fraudulently-purchased virtual goods. “There’s something in China called Black Card; people will use fake credit cards to buy virtual goods and because it’s a fake credit card the app developer actually gets nothing from it.”

Zhao describes these issues, and many others, as “very challenging for a lot of  the mobile developers in China, or even for western mobile developers or developing companies [attempting] to enter the China market."

View the full interview here.